EATONTOWN – Employ­ees of J.H. Cohn’s Central Jersey office in Eatontown recently spent a day with Coastal Habitat for Humanity (HFH) volunteering for a new venture, the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI).

A Belmar resident got some much-needed home repairs from employees of J.H. Cohn’s Central Jersey Office through a new program of Coastal Habitat for Humanity.

Coastal Habitat was selected as one of only 100 Habitat affiliates in the U.S. to participate in the NRI program, which assists low-income homeowners who, due to age or physical limitations, are unable to keep up with the exterior maintenance of their property. Homes that have fallen into disrepair create safety issues for the homeowners and detract from the overall well-being of their communities.

The J.H. Cohn group helped to restore a house in Belmar that had fallen into disrepair. The June 2 event allowed the professionals the opportunity to help a worthy local organization through a team-building activity. The team was focused on providing much-needed improvements for a homeowner whose home had been in the family for several generations. The team cleared the yard of overgrown brush, painted the front porch and back patio, replaced rotting wood and landscaped the property. The family, a mother and her three children, were most appreciative of the efforts.

According to Coastal Habitat, the average home refurbishment costs under the NRI program will only be several hundred dollars per person served, as opposed to the entire cost of a new home.

The mission of Coastal Habitat for Humanity is to raise awareness of the acute need for affordable housing in such a way that poverty housing and homelessness become socially, politically, and religiously unacceptable. CHFH seeks to build community and improve lives by partnering with low-income families and community volunteers to build simple, decent, affordable, safe, and efficient homes.